


Stork Delivery Service

by Kokoro893



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adultery, Age Difference, Babies, Casual Sex, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Happy Ending, M/M, Marriage of Convenience, Older Man/Younger Woman, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27490177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kokoro893/pseuds/Kokoro893
Summary: In the Wizardingworld babies are delivered by storks. Unfortunately, those animals are rather unreliable and Hermione's baby ends up at the wrong address
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Lucius Malfoy
Comments: 22
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

She was on tiptoes on a high ladder. No matter how much she stretched her arms she just didn’t seem to reach the book. Hermione wanted to use magic, but the leather-bound tome was centuries old and she didn’t want to risk causing any damage.

Why? From all the books in the archive did he choose this one? It wasn’t even the best one on the subject and Hermione had read them all.

“Can I help you?” 

She flinched. Taking a step back she found that the ladder was too narrow and there was nothing here to support her. In her panic, she reached for the bookshelf to prevent her from crashing to the floor. “Harry! You’ve startled me! What are you doing here anyway?”

“Visiting my dearest friend at work. The better question is what are you doing?”

“Well, the great Lucius Malfoy, though he needed to read this specific book on goblin activity. No one ever asked for this specific work by Dankworth, probably because he is far from a reliable source of information. I would always recommend MacQuoid on goblins.”

“Can you please not complain about my father-in-law, Draco is doing that way too much already. Can you imagine how awkward it is if everyone comes to you to complain about your in-laws?”

“That’s what you get for marrying the ferret.”

Harry looked around the archive. There wasn’t a single person to be seen. “You could come over for dinner…”

“Aww, Harry. I would love to but, I can’t miss the delivery.”

He looked at the ground. “That’s what you always say. I haven’t seen you in months. Scorpius has grown a lot. Are you sure about this whole order thing? Maybe you’re doing it wrong. You probably don’t have to send a letter every day. I mean, Draco and I, we got Scorpius after our wedding without ordering him. And Fred and Goerge got little Ronnie after one drunk order.”

Sparks were coming off the tip of her wand without Hermione even noticing it. “This is so unfair. I’ve been wanting a baby for so long. I’ve read every book and prepared myself and they just get one.”

“There are more ways than one to be a parent and the twins are actually doing a great job.” Harry groaned. “Just take a break and go out a little, you don’t need a child to be happy and you can always play with Scorpius.”

* * *

Sitting in front of the fireplace, he read his book. Lucius had recently gotten into goblin history. It was actually quite interesting and gave him a deeper understanding of the monetary system. 

He shifted his weight. The chair was just so uncomfortable. It was an antiquity that was used only as decoration, but he also didn’t want to move location. His wife was due to return from her trip to the resort at any minute and he didn’t want to miss it.

Narcissa and he didn’t have the best relationship, the past years have taken a toll on them, and since has Draco gotten married there weren’t many situations for them to interact. As long as their son was little they had at least shared meals but now...

Finally, the flames turned green. He put his book aside and smoothed his robes. Lucius walked in a circle pretending that he just so happened to come across her. 

“How was your trip?” 

“Fine.” Narcissa wiped the ash from her robes.

“The elves have prepared a vegetable bouillon for you just like you like it.”

“Lovely. I’m rather tired from the traveling,” Narcissa said, “I’ll lie down.”

He nodded pretending to be not disappointed. “I’ll see you at dinner then.”

* * *

Hermione returned home. Her arms were aching after hours of rearranging old books. Her gaze wandered from the filled to the brim bookshelf to the empty cradle. Her small apartment in the attic was rather dark and grim. 

She opened the window, hoping that it would make it easier for the storks to find her. She put a pot of noodles onto the stove and sat down on her bed. With a cushion on her lap, she stared at the cradle. 

The storks were the most unreliable creatures she had ever come across. They had one simple job, to deliver babies to those who want to start a family, but more often than not something goes wrong. 

The Weasleys hadn’t ordered a single child, yet they were delivered one every other year. Alice’s and Katie’s baby was delivered to Penelope, giving their son not only two but three mothers. Although Penelope likes to see herself as a special aunt. Harry’s grandparents were delivered James after half a century when they were already retired.

Hermione didn’t want to wait that long. If her little one wasn’t there by tomorrow, she would storm the office to hand in a formal complaint. She didn’t care about the storks not liking to be told what to do, she was done with waiting.

* * *

Lucius returned to his study. He still had a lot of work to do and also needed the distraction. Opening the window, he sat down on his leather chair. Contracts and proposals have piled up on the massive wooden desk. 

There was a letter with a familiar font right in front of him. Lucius didn’t even bother reading it but didn’t bring it over himself to burn it either. Andrea was inquiring about the status quo on a new head researcher for Malfoy Medicals. 

Ever since Severus’ untimely demise, the position had remained empty. The research department was the heart of the company and Malfoy Medicals was the pride of the family’s portfolio. He had always wanted his son to take over this prestigious position.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked out of the window. Lucius had ordered a lovely necklace with a massive emerald for his wife. Hopefully, it would be delivered before dinner. Surly, fine jewelry would lift her spirits. Narcissa loved to ornament herself.

Picking up his quill, he returned his focus to the work in front of him. Going through the proposals he quickly realized that he had to renegotiate the contract with the American suppliers of armadillo bile. If he could get the price down just a little, it would make a great difference in his profit-margins.

Completely engulfed in drafting his own proposal, he almost didn’t notice the bird that flew into his office. His mind was still contemplating how much he would actually want to pay for the bile and if he could lose the supplier if he lowered the price too much when a receipt was hanging into his face.

Absently, he signed it and sent the bird off. Lucius had almost finished drafting the letter when he heard a cry. He paused and listened but there wasn’t anything so he finished his letter.

By the time he put his signature on the letter and sealed the envelope with a wax-seal, he had a weird feeling. Almost as if he had made a mistake? But what could possibly go wrong with commissioning jewelry? His family had quite a reputation and no dealer who would care for their life would dare to scam him.

Turning around he found a basket standing on the window sill. It was oddly big for a necklace. There was another noise. Slowly he approached the basked, feeling like he definitely made a mistake.

Slowly pulling the cloth that covered the basket away, he stared into the blue eyes of a little baby. The little baby stared back at him. He didn’t actually sign the receipt, did he?

Panicking, he lifted the envelope off the baby and tore it open. 

_ Congratulations,  _

_ Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Lucius Malfoy, _

_ Your order has been heard, have fun with your new baby _

_ Stork Delivery Service _

The ink on his name hadn’t dried yet, as if it had been added mere moments before. He almost choked reading that. No, this can’t be happening. He never wanted a baby. It had taken him years to get Draco delivered, but only one time of not checking the parcel before signing the receipt was enough to end up with a baby. By Merling he was in his fifties, what could he possibly want with a baby? Could he return it?

The little baby started crying. Lucius shushed. This was the last thing he needed. What if Narcissa found out about his little mishap. There weren’t on the best of terms, the last thing he could use was the extra stress this little something would bring.

He silenced the baby and started rummaging through the basket, but he couldn’t find any supplies. Weren’t they supposed to come with a started kit? How he hated those storks, could they not once remember to put everything into the basket? Draco had come with the diapers missing, which created interesting complications.

He lifted the baby up and hid the basket beneath his desk. While the little one wasn’t loud, thanks to his silencing-charm, it was still crying furiously. The head had taken on a bright red color and big tears fell from the blue eyes. 

Lucius snuck out of the study, making his way slowly to the kitchen. He was turning left and right, hoping that no one would see him. It wasn’t easy to make it to the basement without encountering any portraits, but he didn’t want to risk upsetting Narcissa.

Finally in the kitchen, he opened the cabinet and retrieved an old metal container. There was still a bit of formula left. Sniffing on it he found that it smelled quite normal. Lucius heated a bit of water and stirred the powder into it. Rocking the little baby, he waited for the mixture to cool down to the ideal temperature.

The door opened and he turned away from it, hoping that whoever intruded on him wouldn’t see the little baby.

“Father? What are you doing in the kitchen?” Draco asked.

“Drink that.” He filled a cup with milk and handed it to Draco. Looking over his shoulder he watched his son drink.

“Did you just feed me formula?”

“Does it taste off?”

“No, it tastes quite normal, although Scorpius preferred the other brand. Why would you feed me formula?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I had tea with Mother,” Draco said, “stop deflecting.”

So much for, she wasn’t feeling well. Lucius slowly turned around and showed Draco the baby in his arm. 

“Did you silence a baby?”

“I was out of options.” With his right hand he grabbed the bottle, bringing it to his lip he checked the temperature before feeding the little one. “Don’t tell your mother.”

“How did you get a baby?”

“Wrong delivery.”

“Ok.” Draco looked at the little baby, a smile covered his lips. “Well, after you’ve finished your meal, I can return you to your parents,” he said in a sing-song voice, “and Mother doesn’t have to know. Who does it belong to? You haven’t signed the receipt, have you?”

Lucius swallowed hard. “Andrea sent me a letter, don’t you want to take on a new challenge. You were always excellent at potions…”

Draco slammed his hands against his lap. “I can’t believe it. I’ve told you a million times that a was happy as a homemaker. Why can’t you respect my wishes?”

He watched his son storm out of the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind him. The little baby just started to cry again. Lucius groaned. He put the bottle down and circled the kitchen to calm the little one down. 

One of his hands was beneath the little butt while the other secured the oversized head. With his thumb, he stroked over the bright hair. He sat down with the baby in his arm. The tears had dried and now the little one was tired. With closed eyes, the baby got comfortable and soon fell asleep.

Letting his head fall back, he realized how tired he was. If he could have his way, then he would go to bed and sleep as well, but dinner was one of those rare chances where he could see his wife.

“Why do you always have to pick fights with Draco? Can’t you just once leave him alone?”

Looking up, he found Narcissa towering above him. Instinctively, he shushed her, which only served to make her more furious. But the last thing he wanted was to wake the baby up again.

She was mad. After decades of marriage, he could tell, without her even saying a thing. Narcissa lifted her chin and to leave the kitchen. “I’ll return it tomorrow,” he called after her.

* * *

Early the next morning, he took the baby and basket and went to the office of the Strock Delivery Service. The big white and black birds seemed rather busy. Countless letters with orders were flying through the cramped room.

A stork was trying to catch them with his beak while another one was more interested in grooming. One stork was opening a random letter and without any coordination, took a baby and flew off.

Lucius watched the chaos. No wonder, he had to wait years until Draco was delivered. If he was that inefficient at his job than the Malfoys would be as poor as Weasleys.

He raised the basket with the little baby inside. “I need to return this.”

Most of the birds were going on like he wasn’t even there, but one of the creatures attacked him with the long, red beak.

Jumping aside, he withdrew his wand from his walking cane and pointed it at the stork. Inhaling through clenched teeth, he was so short of hexing the useless creature into oblivion.

“I demand an answer!” The witch slammed her had onto the counter. 

He hadn’t noticed her storming the venue, but now all he could see was a bush of auburn hair. Lucius hadn’t known that hair could literally stand up in all directions.

“I’ve been sending you a letter every day for the past months,” Miss Granger said, “How difficult can it be to just send me the baby I’ve ordered.”

He put his wand away and slowly approached her. “Miss Granger.”

“What!” she snapped at him. Her eyes were gleaming with fury.

Instinctively, he took a step back. He carefully lowered the basket to the ground and took another step away from the witch. His hand clenched around the handle of his wand. 

“There has been a mix-up,” he explained, pointing at the basket, “I think there is someone who wants to meet you.”

She looked at the baby then back at him. Her big brown eyes didn’t leave his as she grabbed the basket. With her wand pointed at him, she rushed out.


	2. Chapter 2

He returned home shortly after. It was still soon enough to join Narcissa for brunch. She was sitting on the terrace, enjoying the fresh air. He slowly approached her, letting his footsteps echo through the hallway. Standing next to her, he could only see her hat. She didn’t bother to look up at him.

“I have done as you asked me to and returned the baby.”

“So, you have nothing to do with it anymore?” she asked suspiciously.

He didn’t say anything.

“You did sign the receipt, didn’t you?” She pinched the bridge of ht nose. “Someone in this family seems to have a talent for making idiotic decisions.”

It was almost as if he was stabbed. Lucius wasn’t dumb or idiotic. 

“Solve the issue, thanks to Shacklebolt, your bastard has the same right to the inheritance as Draco.”

Returning to the office, he sat down at his chair. He immediately owled his solicitor, to draw up a contract. Lucius kept himself busy with business as usual as he waited for a reply.

* * *

Lucius draped his robes over his arm before stepping out of the Leaky Cauldron. He couldn’t say that he desired to spend time in muggle London, but he had business to attend. Raising an arm, he stopped a cab and read the address from a note. It was surprisingly easy to acquire Miss Granger’s address, thanks to his son.

Standing in front of a high building, he wondered if he was really in the right place. The walls were written on and the area didn’t look very nice. There was a lack of green space and the traffic was loud outside. This was hardly the right place to raise a child, his child, a voice in his head reminded him.

Looking at the doorbells, he found a label that read ‘Granger’. The door was locked, but he discreetly cast Alohomora and entered the building. There was no elevator and Miss Granger supposedly lived on the highest level.

Climbing the sheer endless stairs, he cursed her. Why couldn’t she just live in a remote area or in a Diagon Alley like most witches? That was so typical muggleborn, happy to receive the free education his generous donations enabled, but unwilling to fit in with the rest of society.

Finally, arriving upstairs, Lucius immediately spotted her flat. The wards she had up were strong and well cast. Magic like that was surely interfering with her neighbors’ electronic devices.

He was cautious as he approached her door. They were hardly friendly and barely interacted with each other. Lucius couldn’t be sure about how she would react when she saw him. From what he heard, the young witch had quite a temper and he wouldn’t want to find himself on the wrong end of her wand.

He rand the bell, but nothing happened. Waiting in the clinical looking common stair, he pulled the contract out from his robes. Was the sum he was offering her really enough to allow the little one to grow up properly?

He stood there waiting and waiting. Every few minutes he rang the bell, but nothing happened. This was so degrading. Lucius wanted to return home, but he would be hardly welcomed there. 

It was dark outside when there were finally footsteps. He smoothed his suit and rushed to the door.

“What do you want here?” 

She was holding the baby in her arm and opened the door with her free hand. She placed something on a small table and carefully lowered the baby to the cradle.

Not knowing what to say, he followed her inside, closing the door behind him. “Where have you been all that time?”

“At work, not that it’s any of your business.” Miss Granger, brought her groceries that were lying on the table back to full size and started unpacking.

The room was smaller than his bathroom and the ceiling was skewed so that he could barely stand upright. Countless books were scattered throughout the room. She had so many of them that he was surprised the young witch even managed to fit a bed and a cradle in.

“I have something to discuss with you.”

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “But I don’t have anything to discuss with you.”

“Really? I would think that  _ our _ child would be something we should discuss.”

“Our child? You mean the baby you stole from me.”

“It was an accident.” Moving his arm, he felt the parchment of the contract in his pocket. 

This wasn’t what he came for. She didn’t want him, he didn’t really want a baby, so where was the problem? All he had to do was hand her the contract, sign off his parental rights. He could pay her a nice sum, so she wouldn’t have to work so much and everything would be fine.

“I understand that the situation is far from ideal, but I will not let you take my child from me.” This wasn’t what he had wanted to say.

She had tears in her eyes. Sparks were flying through her wild mane. She drew her wand and pointed it at him. “Out! Now!”

He stood up and opened the door. “We will discuss this later.” Lucius looked at his chained watch. “Tomorrow, same time.”

* * *

Hermione smashed the door behind him. Sobbing, she sank down to the floor. This couldn’t be happening. This was her baby, the one she had wanted for such a long time, he couldn’t just take that from her. But Hermione couldn’t waddle in self-pity either. With loud cries someone demanded attention.

She crawled to the cradle and lifted her little one up. She pressed her against her body. No one was going to take her little girl form her. She wasn’t allowing it. This was everything that she had wanted for so long, nothing was getting in between them, not even a Malfoy.

Rose didn’t stop crying. Hermione showered her oversized head with kisses, pressing her closer against her chest. She rocked her baby until both of them stopped crying.

Wiping the dried tears from their cheeks with a wet cloth, she proceeded to change her little daughter. Hermione took her time, wiping her little butt to establish a ritual. As it wasn’t the first time, she was slowly getting the hand of it. Thankfully, Rose wasn’t too impatient with her mother. She just lied there on her back, her blue eyes watching her. 

All babies had blue eyes and fair hair, didn’t they? As she looked at her daughter, she wondered if she looked that way she did because Mr. Malfoy signed the paper. 

As Rose was the first baby, Hermione had ever ordered, and the last one, the customer service left to be desired, she didn’t really know how those things worked. Generally, magic had a way of recognizing family and members of the same family looked similar. But she didn’t know the mechanism behind it and therefore didn’t know if it applied to her situation.

* * *

He loosened his tie and let himself fall into the black leather armchair.  _ Accioing _ a glass of Firewhiskey, he closed his eyes. This didn’t go according to plan. Lucius emptied his glass in one gulp and pulled the pre-written contract out of his robes. 

His fingers wandered over the parchment, taking the texture in. He couldn’t explain it but he didn’t want to part ways with the little one. He had accepted the child, now it was his duty to raise it in the best possible way.

True, he hadn’t done the best job with Draco, but that didn’t mean he should just cast the little one out. He hadn’t given Draco up and he had been a far more difficult baby.

Crunching the parchment in his fist, Lucius formed it into a ball and incinerated the contract. He wasn’t going to late the chit of a girl take his child from him. 

* * *

Walking down the aisle with the books in her arm, she suddendly stopped. Hermione had once again forgotten where she wanted to put them. She placed them on the table and sat down. With her foot, she was rocking Rose, back and forth.

“Hermione? What are you doing?” Harry asked.

“Calming my daughter down.”

“She looks pretty sleeping to me. What’s going on?”

Turning around she glared at him. “You’re lovely father-in-law wants to take my child from me!”

“You know, Hermione, there are laws preventing that from happening. He can’t take Rose from you.” Harry stared at her for a moment. “You know that you can’t take Rose from him either.”

“Out!”

“Hermione, be reasonable.”

“I am, reasonable! I never wanted him in my life! I can raise my child alone just like I wanted.”

Harry sighed. “You can’t shut everyone out. And see the advantages. You have someone to watch her when you’re at work or just need a moment for yourself. I know you can do everything by yourself, but you don’t have to.” 

* * *

“Have you taken care of the issue at hand?” Narcissa asked. She looked stern and unapproachable. 

“I want to raise my child.” He looked at the amber liquid swirling in his glass, not daring to look at his wife.

“Then you should go there,” Narcissa said surprisingly friendly, “And don’t you dare come back until you’ve taken care of the situation.”

Lucius had wanted to fix things with his wife, but his little mishap made their relationship even worse. He didn’t put up a fight and disapparated.

Standing in front of her warded door, he wondered why he had to end up at the doorstep of the only witch who wasn’t connected to the floo-network. Did she not have a fireplace? He waited and waited in front of her door. This was so humiliating. Eventually, and he rang the bell. 

She had her wand drawn as she opened the door. Miss Granger looked far from pleased to see him, but she didn’t actually curse him. He counted that as a success.

“May I?” He took the little baby out of her arms.

He let his finger run over the soft and plump baby cheeks. Miss Granger glared at him the entire time. “I’m not going to hurt our little one or you for that matter.”

She puffed. “Rose.”

“Excuse me?”

“My daughter’s name, it’s Rose.”

“Rose. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Lucius rocked her in his arms. The little one looked at him with her big blue eyes. It was weird, but even after decades, holding a baby, his child in his arms still felt natural to him.

His heart was pounding a little faster. This was his daughter. He wanted to go out and spoil her with all the riches of the world. Nothing would be out of reach for the newest Malfoy. Feeling bolder, he placed a kiss on her oversized head.

She cleared her throat. 

Lucius had almost forgotten, that his little daughter came with a witch attached. Not just any witch. Hermione Granger, the muggleborn savior of the wizarding world who refused to live in a proper wizarding area.

“How does this work?” She had her hands in her waist.

“Raising a child is not that complicated we feed her and bathe her-” 

As if Rose wanted to tell him something, she started crying. 

Hermione started panicking. She ran through the tiny kitchen collecting a bottle and formula, then she realized that Rose might want a toy or a plushy and started to search for those, while the little one was crying louder and louder.

“I think she needs to be changed,” Lucius said, sniffing on her.

“Diapers are at the changing table,” she said pointing at the corner.

“Are you not familiar with the spells, I could provide a House Elf…”

“Somethings, like raising your children, can’t be outsourced. It is important for a baby to have skin to skin contact with the parents.”

“I am certain that there are more pleasant ways to bond.”

She looked at him daringly. “I thought you wanted to be involved in the parenting.”

“You are testing me,” he stated. Looking at Rose, he started to undress her.

“I always start with the right leg-”

He took a deep breath and obeyed. From all the witches and wizards in the country, it needed to her baby that ended up in his arms. After some analysis, he managed to undo the tape.

Rose watched him the entire time as he wiped her clean and put the cream onto her little butt and founded a fresh diaper around her.

“Don’t stick it onto her skin.”

Finished with his task. He handed her their daughter. “Do I now qualify?”

She grunted. “You still haven’t told me how you think this is going to work?”

“50:50, One day you and every other day I take care of Rose.”

“I still don’t like this, and I don’t like you.” Miss Granger pressed the baby closer against her.

There was tapping against the window. They exchanged a glance. She stood up and opened the window, but the big eagle owl refused to enter the small flat. It merely dumped a suitcase and a letter.

“It’s for you,” she said, handing him the letter.

It wasn’t like he was surprised. After all, he knew Brutus his owl all too well, but he had a bad feeling about this particular letter.

“And?”

“Tell me, Miss Granger, are you always that noisy?”

She pouted. “You’re in my flat.”

“And you will have to put with me for a little longer, Narcissa has thrown me out, of my own house.”


	3. Chapter 3

“You’ll sleep on the floor,” she insisted, throwing an extra cushion and a thin blanket to the ground.

He hadn’t exactly expected her to let him stay, but Lucius also didn’t want to risk leaving her flat in case you wouldn’t allow him back inside. He leaned his cane against the table and lowered himself to the ground.

The space between her bed the wall and the crib was so narrow that he could neither stretch his legs nor turn around properly. Lying on the hard floor in the darkness, he only waited for Rose to start crying so he could stand up again.

* * *

Hermione was lying on her back. Covered by her blanket she stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t actually make anything out in the darkness, but she didn’t feel like sleeping either. Her hand wandered down to her leg. 

Rose was sleeping and she had had a difficult day. Playing with the hem of her knickers, she wondered if her intruder was sleeping as well. Her hand reached into her underwear and she let her fingers run across her nether lips. She was so wet and needy.

Hermione wanted to make herself feel good, after all the stress, she more than deserved it. But someone was besieging her tiny flat. He had more than enough money to get himself a hotelroom yet he was lying on her floor.

She also couldn’t just forget about him. Every few moments he let out a groan. Turning around he bumped a limp against her bed. Not only was that loud but it also made her bed vibrate which was the last thing Hermione needed in her current situation.

Maybe if she started touching herself, he would get the hint and disappear. Or he would stay just to mess with her. She slammed her hand against her mattress, this was so frustrating.

Turning around, she wanted to get at least some sleep if she was denied any satisfaction, but someone made noises. And it wasn’t Rose.

“Shut up, someone wants to sleep,” she barked at the old man on her floor forwing one of her stuffed animals at him.

“Do you have any idea how hard the floor is? Do you think that a man my age and size can rest well in such a position?”

“Fine, you may sleep in my bed, but only if you stop annoying me.”

Groaning loudly, he lifted his body from the floor. He made his way to her bed but Hermione didn’t move an inch. 

“My side,” she said, stubbornly, not moving away from the edge of the bed. If he wanted to stay here, then he had to play after her rules.

Mr. Malfoy clumsily rolled over her. His weight pressed her deep into the mattress. It was a strange feeling to be so close to Draco’s dad. His hair tickled her and his body rubbed against hers. Hermione felt his hot breath against her face. He was lying right on top of her.

He moved his body, trying to get to the other side. For a moment he paused and let his head rest next to hers. 

Being so close to him, Hermione inhaled his musky scent. He didn’t smell bad for a man his age. She wondered what his hair felt like. It always looked so smooth and silky. Protected by the darkness, she reached out and touched it. She wasn’t disappointed, his hair felt wonderful, he didn’t deserve it.

“Fuck me.”

Her demand must have rejuvenated him. He lifted his head and playfully bit her neck. Shivers went through her spine. Her legs wrapped against him and she pressed him closer against her body.

Hermione let go of his hair and reached for a wand. With a swift flick of her wand, they were both naked and she cast a silencing charm to not wake Rose.

His big hand cupped her butt and, he buried his face between her breasts. Mr. Malfoy moaned as he inhaled her scent. Pinching her erect nipples, he made her squeak.

Her nails dug into his arms and her breathing got heavier. She ground herself against him. She needed him. Hermione hadn’t realized how horny she was. Luckily, he didn’t leave her wanting for long.

Mr. Malfoy positioned himself at her entrance. “Miss Granger,” he moaned, thrusting into her. He stretched her nicely. Hermione felt so full and eager. She couldn’t wait for him to start moving. 

He nibbled on her neck and began moving. His thrusts got quickly harder and harder. 

She felt his hot breath against her sensitive skin. Arching her back, she met his movements. Her walls clenched around him.

He brought his hand down between them and rubbed her sensitive bundle of nerves.

A tingling sensation went through her entire body. She was so close.

Grunting loudly he came. Breathing heavily, he continued stroking her until her muscles spasmed uncontrollably. Waves of pleasure wandered through her entire body. She scratched over his back as her orgasm hit her. Hermione couldn’t care less if he got hurt or not.

Completely spent, Mr. Malfoy collapsed onto her. 

Panting, she pushed him of herself and turned away from him. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

* * *

As his breathing evened out. His thought sorted themselves. Lucius couldn’t believe what he had done. He had never meant to risk his marriage, but as he was crawling over her petite frame, inhaling her sweet scent…

It had been years since he had last been with someone and the way Miss Granger had ordered him. Who was he to deny her anything? 

She smelled so good, it was driving him insane. Her butt fitted perfectly into his hand and she didn’t require any foreplay. Miss Granger was wet and ready to fuck.

She was so tight around him. He knew he wasn’t going to last long. Rubbing her, she had become even tighter around him. All thoughts left his mind. For the first time in ages, he had been at ease with himself.

Now he was lying next to a girl his son’s age wondering if she would tell his wife. The worst part was that he felt so much better now. Lucius fell asleep quickly after her, not thinking too much about what had transpired between them.

* * *

“Where Is Rose?” Harry asked.

That was just what she needed. If Rose wasn’t keeping her from doing her work someone else did. Since when was the archive even so popular.

“It’s Mr. Malfoy’s day,” Hermione grumbled, putting the book back onto the shelf.

Harry gloatedt. “So, you’re giving him a chance? You’ll see having someone to help you out isn’t such a bad thing.”

Hermione grunted. “The sex wasn’t bad.”

“Hermione!”

“What?”

Harry gasped. “Tell me you haven’t slept with Mr. Malfoy.”

She returned her focus back to archiving the new arrivals. “His wife had thrown him out and he decided to spend the night at my place. I thought I might as well put him to good use.”

“You can’t have casual sex with the father of your child. If there are feeling involved, you only get hurt.”

“I fail to see your problem.”

“My problem is that you slept with my father-in-law. How am I ever supposed to look Narcissa in the eyes?”

“She had thrown him out,” Hermione said stubbornly.

* * *

Hermione got Rose changed and fed her the first bottle of the day. Once her daughter’s needs were all met she laid her down again and went to the bathroom.

“Occupied.” Mr. Malfoy was under the shower.

Water splashed down his naked body. Shamelessly, Hermione stood there and watched him. Her eyes traveled down, straight to his chock. He looked quite big. She bit her lip and undressed.

He didn’t fight her as she joined him in the small cabin. She took the soap of the reck and let her hands run over his body. Staring at him, she could tell that her touch wasn’t without and effect.

He took the soap out of her hand and cleaned her as well. Hermione hadn’t known before that her breast were a part of her body that needed to be cleaned very thoroughly, but she was appreciative of his effort none the less.

His big hands trailed her curves. Tingles went through her entire body. Instinctively, she rubbed her legs against each other. Boldly, she reached out and stroke his length. He was hot and throbbing in her hand.

The air was thick and breathing became harder and harder. The continuous drops of water created an interesting sensation on her skin. 

Hermione turned around and placed her arms against the wall. She flaunted her butt.

Mr. Malfoy raised his hand and spanked her.

“Do you like that, Miss Granger?” Pressing his front against her he whispered into her ear. His tongue caressed her ear lobe and electrical jolts went through her spine.

He petted her ass cheek. His gentle touch felt strangely good on her abused flesh. She could get used to that.

“Make me come.” Hermione rubbed her rear against him more daringly.

With his strong arms, he grabbed her hips and dragged her a bit further away from the wall. At that height, it was easy for him to penetrate her. With a hard thrust, he entered her. Rubbing her clit, he gave her no time to adjust before slamming into her with full force.

No one has ever treated her that roughly, yet Hermione found it oddly pleasing. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and her breathing was labored. 

“Mr. Malfoy,” she moaned.

Her muscles were twitching and her insides clenched around him. His balls slammed against her with each of his powerful thrusts. Hermione was gasping for air. She was so close.

She let out a loud cry as her orgasm hit her. For a moment all her strength left her body and she fell against the wall. He didn’t stop thrusting into her until he was completely spent letting her ride out her orgasm.

Exhausted, she sank to the ground. It took her a moment to collect herself. The hot water was still falling on her.

Rose started to cry. Hermione washed his sperm off her before leaving the shower. She wrapped herself in a towel, rushing to her daughter.


	4. Chapter 4

Sitting at the table, Hermione bottle-fed Rose, while he went through his mails.

“Still no reply from Narcissa?” she asked.

“Unfortunately not.”

“Why is this even so important to you? That you two are getting back together?” Hermione asked.

“Tell me, Miss Granger, is there any way to make you stop being so noisy?”

“I don’t seem to bother you when we fuck.”

“Indeed.” He sighed. “Narcissa and I, We have been married for almost three decades. It was not an entirely bad time and we have raised a son together.”

“That sounds pathetic.”

Mr. Malfoy stood up and took the photograph of Ron and her on the shelf. “Said the one who is hung up on her dead rush. How many years has it been?”

Hermione tore the framed photo out of his arms. “You know nothing about Ron. He has been more than a crush, we’ve been best friends forever. Someone like you wouldn’t understand.”

* * *

They haven’t spoken since that conversation. He shouldn’t have mentioned Ron. Now everything between them was awkward. Hermione wanted to kick him out, but there was really no reason. They hadn’t been friends before there was no reason that their relationship would suffer from it.

Waking up, she didn’t feel like standing up. Mr. Malfoy was already tending to Rose, so she could remain lying in her bed. Hermione felt so tired. Her head was pounding and her joints ached. She closed her eyes and drifted away.

* * *

“Miss Granger?” It was strange. Normally, she would always stand up and be eager to go to work. Not that Lucius could understand what was so great about working in an archive, from what he understood, the younger witch had always been an excellent student and her talents were wasted in that position.

She groaned in protest. Slowly opening her eyes, Lucius could see her red eyes. Her skin was pale and she looked awful.

“Are you unwell?”

She looked at him weakly. He stretched out his arm and placed his hand on her forehead. She was glowing hot.

“You are sick, Miss Granger.”

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it again. Blinking a couple of times, she came to the conclusion that he was in fact right and she should owl sick.

* * *

No one batted an eye as he ented the company. Lucius had been using the facilities of Malfoy Medicals regularly over the past weeks. He had needed an office and this was his company after all. While he would have preferred it to be comfortable at the Manor, Malfoy Medicals did require his special attention. At least until Draco would finally step un and take over the position as head researcher.

Andrea greeted him as friendly as ever. By now she had given up and stopped bothering him about Draco, she seemed to understand that he had more urgent matters to take care of.

Lucius sat down at his desk and started to look through his daily correspondence. Rose wasn’t making him any trouble as always. He hadn’t known that children could be such delightful if he had Draco might have not remained an only child for so long.

After a long day of work, he returned to Miss Granger’s flat. The young witch was still lying in bed. Has she moved at all the entire day?

“I’m dying.”

“One does not die that simple.” 

Here he was. Alone with a baby and a sick witch in the middle of muggle London. What went wrong in his life to deserve that? Reluctantly, he made her a cup of tea. She wasn’t watching so Lucius added a gulp of sleeping draught in it. He had one baby to care for, he didn’t need another one.

* * *

Lucius was on diaper duty the following day as well. As if having to take care of Rose and still having some work to do wasn’t enough, he realized that he ought to feed Miss Granger before going to work. Theoretically, he could do his work from home, but he was eager to leave the tiny flat.

Looking through the kitchen shelves, he found that they had barely any groceries at home. He shouldn’t have been surprised about that, after all, they had been short already yesterday and he didn’t restock. Neither did the young witch who was lying in her bed sick.

“There’s a supermarket around the corner,” she said weakly.

He took a big mug of tea and brought it over to her. He sat down by her side and showed her their little daughter. Yes, she was still alive. Placing the mug on her nightstand, he then felt her temperature with his now free hand.

She was still hot, although the potions have helped to bring her to a more healthy temperature. She looked at him with her tired eyes. Lucius couldn’t see any hint of hostility in those big brown orbs. The witch had been a constant pain in his side for as long as he had known her, it was strange to see her succumb to an infection.

* * *

He didn’t know what he had done wrong in his life. Lucius had contemplated calling a House Elf but he was too scared of being hexed for doing so. Tieing Rose to his chest, he covered her with his long coat so that only her head was lurking out.

Not wanting to go down the stairs her apparated to the entrance, from there her fallowed the not so precise directions of a sick witch. He did eventually found something like a supermarket, but it was definitely not just around the corner.

Lucius aimlessly strolled through the aisle. He had no idea what he was supposed to buy. Once he found himself at the cashiers without having picked up a single item, he realized that he needed a battle plan.

Cooking wasn’t something he was overly familiar with. For his entire life, he had been taken care of by elves. He knew a few cutting spells, not that he had ever used them on vegetables before.

Looking around, he watched the muggles, they all seemed to have some kind of routine, picking their stuff as they walked through the aisles. He was the only one who didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t working. He needed a new plan.

* * *

Hermione felt like she was dying. How she hated being sick. She felt so useless and her head was hurting whenever she tried to read a book. Couldn’t this be over already? As she lied here in her bed, she waited for Mr. Malfoy to return. She waited and waited.

Eventually, she had to leave her bed, even if it was only to pee. In moments like that, she was grateful that her flat was so small. Steadying herself at the walls, she slowly stumbled towards the bathroom. She immediately regretted it whenever she moved her head too quickly. It was like someone has pushed a knife through her skull. Not that it would actually feel like that since the brain didn’t have any pain receptors.

As she moved back from the bathroom ever so slowly and crawled back into bed, she found that they still hadn’t returned. Hermione felt oddly disappointed. She had wanted him to leave her alone for weeks, but she had never wanted him to disappear with their daughter when she was too sick to go after him.

She took a big gulp of tea and placed her head on the pillow. Her stomach was grumbling, but looking around she couldn’t find anything edible. There wasn’t a lot she could eat anyway. She didn’t want to owl Harry to take care of her either, he would make a big fuss and she was to tired to write a letter.

* * *

With confidence, he entered the huge book store. He placed 50 pounds on the counter and gave the sales lady his best intimidating stare.

“It is an emergency. Rose’s mother is sick and I need a cookbook. I am looking for soups.”

The sales lady blinked a couple of times and rushed off. She came back a few minutes later showing him a few options. Lucius chose the most beginner-friendly and left the store without taking his change, he had more pressing things to worry about.

Now that he was armed with recipes all he had to do was buy the supplies and figure out how to do this whole cooking thing. But seriously, how difficult could boiling water really be.

As he was getting hungry, Lucius decided to have a bite to eat somewhere. He didn’t really know where to go, as he didn’t frequent Muggle London unless it was for business in which case his business partners invited him. He didn’t need to go somewhere fancy, he just needed a table to sit down to read the recipes and feed Rose.

So here he was standing inside a McDonald’s. The neon light was intimidating, but he made a point to look even more intimidating. He ordered a BigMac and coke. He wasn’t sure what it exactly was since he was only familiar with the BigMac-index, but it must have been a big thing in the muggle world.

He was handed a metal number and a plate with his drink. Sitting down at one of the tables, he looked at the number. He was told to wait for his burger. He had always imagined this whole fast-food restaurant differently, for one he had expected it to be actually fast. 

As was sitting there feeding Rose, he watched more and more muggles queue up. They looked kind of chaotic from his perspective and as there were so many of them, the whole ordering was slow.

Someone brought him his BigMac with another plate and took the number away. And once Rose was finished, he could finally start eating. 

It wasn’t horrible, but the BigMac-index was definitely more interesting than the BigMac itself. He felt like an animal eating with his bare hands, constantly watching himself not to dribble sauce and lettuce onto himself. Lucius hadn’t thought that eating could be that stressful. 

He wiped his fingers clean and opened the cookbook. The ice in his coke made interesting sounds as he drank. Lucius found it annoying, but Rose was enjoying it. So here he was, rattling his coke for his daughter while he read over the recipes to find out what kind of soup he could manage to cook.

A group of teenagers was staring at him. Lucius couldn’t understand what they were starring at. If anything he should stare at them. Sitting around the table, they were fighting over french fries They were all dressed in sweaters that were made for a half-giant and their baggy trousers revealed their underwear, yet they were staring at him. Muggles, he rolled his eyes.

* * *

With the cookbook in one hand, he entered the supermarket. It wasn’t the same one he had entered earlier. Not that it would have helped him much. The older wizard was completely lost anyway.

As he stood there with a cookbook, soups, and stews for dummies, a basket in his other hand, and a baby on his chest, it wasn’t long until an older lady started feeling sorry for him. 

“Has your wife abandoned you?” The older lady asked. She looked at him, the way Augusta Longbottom did, eager to uncover dirt.

“She is unwell,” he said dryly. 

Only after these words have left his mouth it occurred to him how wrong that statement was. He had a wife, she just had thrown him out because he had a child with another witch. It wasn’t even his fault, it had been an accident. And now he was not only caring for his daughter but also babysitting her sick mother because she was unwell.

“Aww, poor man. Does she not have parents to take care of you? A man can’t handle that on his own.”

“They are in Australia,” Lucius said. Or was it Austria? He didn’t really care.

She showed him around, packing items into his basket for him. The older lady took her time explaining him everything he needed to know. She found the right kind of teas and picked him the best vegetables for the soup. She also added crackers.

Lucius didn’t quite know how he had managed to get a muggle do the grocery shopping for him, but it was definitely much faster then if he had done it all by himself. As a proper wizard, the Manor had a stately kitchen garden the elves attended to, to save him from those dreadful tasks. Not so long ago Muggles had Maids of all work to do the chores, but now they were left to do everything by themselves. And they call it progress.

He thanked the lady for her help and paid for his groceries. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her rush to another woman, telling her about his awful situation. Lucius wasn’t sure what to make of it. 

He walked to a side alley from where he apparated back to her flat. He had been gone for ages and there he had thought that he would only go around the corner to pick something up.

* * *

Waking up, Hermione slowly became aware of the world around her. There were noises, a steady _bloob bloob_. She was no longer alone. Not quite knowing what to make of it, she just lied there, wondering what was going on.

She hadn’t expected the older pureblood to return. But judging by the plastic bag on the table, he actually went grocery shopping in a supermarket. Hermione had no idea what took him so long, but he was back.

She spotted him standing in the small kitchen. There was a big pot on the stove. She could see the blue flames from her bed. For some reason, she hadn’t expected him to actually manage to get her stove on although it wasn’t actually that difficult.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, bringing her tea and cracker to the bed.

“Rose?”

“Having a nap, I have just changed her, by hand,” he added.

Hermione nodded. The mattress sank as he sat down next to her. 

“The soup should be ready in about an hour.” He placed his bog hand on her forehead. “How are you feeling?”

Hermione closed her eyes for a second as he touched her. He was oddly familiar with her and she found that it felt oddly nice. God, she really was sick, she was even starting to enjoy Mr. Malfoy’s presence.

“Horrible. Am I gonna die?”

He chuckled. “Miss Granger, you have survived much worse, an infection will not end you.” He took the mug of the nightstand and offered her a sip of tea.

“Hermione,” she said before drinking it. While she needed the fluid, the tea was also still too hot to drink and she could only take small sips.

“Lucius.” He placed the mug back on the nightstand and stroked over her cheek. She closed her eyes leaning into his touch. His big hand was still warm from the tea he had been holding. “Sleep well.”

* * *

Lucius was pacing through the small flat, he bumped his head against the wooden ceiling which seemed to amuse Rose. He was anxious, trying the soup every few minutes. He did everything according to the recipe, but he was still anxious whether it worked or not. Brewing potions made him never feel like that.

It definitely wasn’t the best soup he had ever had, but he was still proud of himself. Everything that was in it seemed mostly done and he was eager for Hemione to give it a try. Hermione, he repeated her name in his head again and again. It sounded nice and he was strangely fine with addressing the young witch informally.

He turned off the gas. Filling a bowl with the hot liquid, he slowly carried it to her bed, trying to not bump his head against something. He placed Rose on the bed next to her mother and woke Hermione up.

She was barely awake as he shoved a spoonful of soup into her mouth. He watched her closely. She was inhaling sharply a few times until she managed to swallow the hot liquid.

“And?” His heart was racing as he waited for an answer.

“Hot.”

He had spent the entire day shopping and cooking and that was all the answer he got? He should have called Draco and gotten his work done instead. His hand clenched around the spoon, he couldn’t explain it but for some reason he was angry.

She looked at him and the bowl in his hand. “Are you going to feed me or do I get the spoon?”

Startled he filled another spoon with the hot liquid. He blew to bring the temperature down before shoving another spoonful into her mouth.

“Wow! This is actually good.”

He felt his chest rise, beaming with pride. “You sound surprised.”

A blush covered her cheeks and she nibbled on her lower lip in the most adorable way. “I thought you would be completely lost,” she admitted.

He smiled at her gently. “I am an intelligent wizard, I can manage. Would you believe me if I told you that I had a BigMac?”

She giggled. “No way!”

“Well, I can not say that this was an experience I have to repeat, but I can survive by myself.” He kept feeding her the soup until the bowl was completely empty. He placed the empty bowl in the sink.

“You could stay in bed with us for a little,” Hermione suggested.

He looked at her and Rose. He had wanted to be productive for the day, but the bed looked inviting. He undid his tie and joined them. Their little one was lying between them and covered them with the blanket.

As time passed they moved closer and close to each other until he had Hermione in one arm and Rose in the other. As they were both sleeping, he got to shamelessly enjoy them. 

Lucius had never thought that he would ever do something like this. To just spend a day in bed with his family. There was always something that needed to be taken care of and that seemed so unproductive that it was the last thing on his mind.

He could just make Hermione take an extra day with Rose so he could catch up with everything that remained undone. 

He inhaled her shampoo as her head rested on his chest. Even though she was sick and hadn’t showered in days, she didn’t actually smell too bad. Lucius pressed her closer against his frame. It was oddly nice to have a witch sleeping in his arm.

As it got later and he got tired, he had to get up. He still needed to change Rose and put her back into her cradle. The sun was setting and, he got undressed before joining Hermione in their bed.

She was sleeping half on her back and he spooned her. Wiping her bushy hair out of her way, he placed a kiss on her neck. He felt at ease holding her. She was so warm and soft. with Hermione deep asleep, he didn’t have a worry in the world. She couldn’t hex him or throw him out. He could just hold onto her and relish her proximity.

* * *

She was feeling much better when she woke up the following morning. Hermione still wasn’t back to her former strength, but she wasn’t feeling like dying either. Noticing the weight in her body she slowly opened her eyes.

Lucius was lying half onto her, his arm wrapped around her waist. Strands of his long hair were hanging into her pace and he was snoring slightly. It wasn’t loud but definitely audible.

She watched him sleep. She could feel his chest rise and fall with every breath he took, he looked almost cute. Hermione knew she should push him away. She had never wanted him in her life, he just invaded upon her, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

And Rose didn’t demand her attention either. So there she was in bed with Draco’s dad and she kind of liked it. He wasn’t an entirely unpleasant person, just very difficult. 

He slowly woke up and turned to her their eyes met. Absently, she petted his back. There was something going on and she didn’t want to break the spell. He slowly raised his head not breaking the eye-contact.

He removed his hand from under her body and slowly reached out for her. Hermione tilted her head slightly, exposing her vulnerable neck, without removing her eyes from him. He tucked a loose strand of her bushy hair behind her ear.

She swallowed hard as he leaned forward, closing the distance between them. Her heart was racing and she looked at him with big eyes. For a moment she panicked, she didn’t know what to do.

Hermione boldly placed her hand on his cheek and closed her eyes. His lips brushed over hers. She shivered under his touch and goosebumps covered her arm. Lifting her head off the pillow, she pressed her lips against his. Her hands grabbed his long hair pulling him closer to her. It was a soft kiss yet, it left her yearning for more.

They slowly separated. Lucius looked at her smiling gently and she smiled back at him. Her cheeks were glowing and her fingers caressed his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucius handed her Rose. “She is fed and changed. Are you sure I can leave you alone?”

She leaned forward accepting Rose and kissed him. “It’s only for a couple of days, we can manage. Go and meet your business partners.”

He placed a kiss on both of their heads. It was only for a couple of days, he reminded himself. Despite everything going on, he was still responsible for his company and had meetings and negotiations to attend.

“I’m going to miss you,” Hermione said. 

Standing on tiptoes, she captured his lips. He took his time exploring her mouth. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay and explore every inch of this peculiar witch. They reluctantly separated, his Portkey was going to depart soon.

She looked at him with her big brown eyes, breathing through her mouth and he placed his hand on the old boot. 

* * *

Hermione was humming a melody as she placed the books back onto the shelf. She was done in no time which meant that she could take some time to read. Grabbing a particularly heavy textbook on Arithmancy, she sat down at the wooden table.

As there was literally no one else in the archive, she couldn’t see anything wrong with reading to her daughter. Rose wasn’t all that much interested in Arthimancy and fell asleep in no time. She smiled at her daughter. What a life, nothing but eating and sleeping.

With Rose asleep, she returned to reading silently, but she couldn’t help herself and kept humming.

“You’re in a good mood,” Harry said, sitting down next to her. “I hope that means that you have solved your issues with Mr. Malfoy.”

Hermione blushed. “Lucius and I, we’re doing good.”

“Lucius, is it now? He never offered me to use his first name and I’ve been married to his son.”

“Don’t tell me you want to actually, spend a lot of time with him?”

“You don’t get to choose your in-laws.” Harry looked at her skeptically. “But you are enjoying his company? Do I need to be terrified?”

Hermione giggled. 

* * *

He finally returned. It was already late in the evening and his witches were already in bed. He looked at Rose first. She was sleeping soundly, as was expected. There was little else the baby did. Leaning into the crib, he placed a kiss onto her oversized head before joining Hermione in bed.

She grabbed him by his shirt kissed him. Their kiss quickly got more and more passionate. Moaning against her lips, he pressed her petite frame against him.

“Did you miss me?” she asked, licking over her kiss swollen lips.

Lucius buried his face in the nape of her neck and nibbled on her sensitive skin. Hermione was giggling under him and he used the distraction to free her of her nightgown, not that she put up much of a fight.

Trailing down kisses, he took his time exploring her beautiful body. Words couldn’t express how much he wanted her. Whatever magic it was, he couldn’t get enough of it. Placing his hand on her chest, he could feel her heart racing.

He slowly moved it over her chest, cupping her perfectly shaped breast. Did she know how beautiful she was in the dim candlelight, with her messy hair spread out on the pillow?

Moving further and further down, he could tell that she was getting exceedingly needy. Hermione couldn’t keep her body still on the bed. Her hips and back were moving, seeking his touch.

He kneeled down in front of her and places soft kisses on the inside of her tighs. His right hand cupped her sex and she was pressing herself against it. He gently bit her just above the knee. His pants were painfully tight and he was aching to bury himself inside her.

Lucius let his thumb run over her nether lips. Slowly spreading her, her juices coated his long fingers. Circling her sensitive bundle of nerves, her breathing got labored. He kept teasing her until Hermione was begging him for more.

He crawled up to her. Settled between her legs, he captured her lips and kissed her with earnest. Hermione swung her legs around him, pressing him closer to her. She ground against him, drawing moans from his lips.

With a flick of his wand his clothes were completely gone, he positioned himself at her entrance. Lucius moaned loudly as he finally sank into her depths. Her nails dug into his arms as he spread her. Completely inside, he took the time to kiss her properly before starting to move. 

She arched her back, pressing her chest against him. His hands were on her hips as he pushed into her. She was holding onto him with all her strength, her inner walls clenched around him in the most delicious way. 

There was nothing else that mattered when he was with her. Hermione made him feel complete and the sounds he could draw from her were the most melodic thing he had ever heard. With each thrust, he realized more how much he needed her and how much he wanted her. 

Hermione was moaning louder and louder and it was all too easy for him to get lost in the moment. Everything for once felt right and perfect. He thrusted into her harder and faster. Her inner walls were clenching around him, squeezing him tightly.

He was out of breath and so close. Her entire body tensed in his arms and with a loud cry, she came. The way her muscles tightened around him as her orgasm hit her was too much for him. Grunting loudly he came hard.

Panting for air her crashed onto her petite frame. Completely spent, he was too exhausted to roll off her. Her nails scratched over his back, but he didn’t mind. Hermione was free to leave all the marks she wanted to.

Between his breaths, he gave her a pack. His flaccid cock was still inside of her, but he didn’t want to lose their connections. 

She looked at him smiling. Hermione was clearly as exhausted as he was, but she still found the strength to hold him in place with her arms and legs. Combing through his long hair she showered him with kisses.

Lucius closed his eyes. Resting on her chest he enjoyed her affection. “I could get used to that.” Smirking he placed a kiss on her cheek.

* * *

“It’s going to be fun,” Hermione urged him. Taking his hand she dragged him outside. He reluctantly followed her down the stairs. She couldn’t help but giggle. She just wanted to take them outside to the park, no one was going to butcher him. 

A clod breeze hit her, and she triple-checked if Rose wasn’t too cold and her head was properly covered. With the blanked under her arm, she entered the coffee shop and ordered two cups of hot chocolate. Lucius didn’t follow her inside and was waiting for her on the sidewalk.

She wondered if it was because he didn’t want to get used to the heat inside or he had simply enough of muggles. Lucius would have preferred to spend most of the time working and dealing with his business partners but Hermione wouldn’t let him get away that easily.

Carrying the paper bag outside she pressed a kiss on his lips. Lucius was somewhat reluctant to show affection in public, but by now she had figured out how to handle her wizard. 

She made him carry the beverages. Hand in hand they walked to the nearest park. It was surprisingly quiet, but then again it was quite cool. The trees had barely left anymore and while the air was relatively dry, her breath condensed. She puffed more and more air out just to watch the little clouds from.

Hermione spread the blanket out over the bench and they sat down. Lucius didn’t say anything. She took a sip of the hot chocolate and placed her daughter in her lap so that she could have a good view of the park.

“Come on, I know you like it here.” Smiling she placed her head on his shoulder and Lucius put his arm around them.

Just sitting there inhaling the cold air, they watched the squirrels bury their nuts for the winter. Rose was giggling, as they showed her the trees and haded her an orange leaf. 

“Technically, leaves have always that color but the chloroplasts overshadow it,” Hermione explained, “because the tree doesn’t want to produce new ones every year the remove them from the leaves and store them before letting go of the leaves.”

Lucius looked at her with a raised brow.

“What? it’s true.”

“For some reason, I doubt that our baby understands the concept of chloroplasts.”

* * *

Hermione was still in the shower and Lucius just finished feeding Rose. She was lying in his arm moving her little ones. He tapped onto her belly with his long fingers and she giggled. Sitting on the bed, he slowly came to realize how tired he was. Work and a baby and Hermione, there was a lot going on in his life and Draco was still unwilling to step up and take over the department for research. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back.

Rose started making noises, but he was too exhausted to look up, so she kept making those noises for a couple of seconds. Furious that her father was still not paying any attention, she started crying. It wasn’t that bad at first but, she quickly got louder and louder.

Lucius jumped up shushing her. He couldn’t understand how such a tiny human could be so loud. He was waving with his hand, but it couldn’t hold her interest for long. He went through the flat looking for something, anything to keep her interested. Bumping his head, she stopped crying for a moment. 

He went through her stuffed animals showing her one by one. In desperation, he reached for Hermione’s teddy, but Rose didn’t focus on any of them. Lucius was standing in the middle of countless plushies and his little daughter was still crying.

Luckily, Hermione labeled everything, he opened the drawer that said toys and fished something out of it. Rose was finally quiet as she reached for the purple thing in his hands. Too late, he noticed what he had given her, but Rose didn’t want to give it away.

He couldn’t hear the water anymore. Stressed, he tugged on the purple object, but Rose was surprisingly strong and he didn’t want to hurt her.

“Why is my daughter playing with my dildo?” Hermione was wrapped in a towel. her hands rested on her hips.

“The drawer said toys,” Lucius defended himself.

“My nightstand drawer. What do you think is in a drawer in arms reach from my bed that says toys?”

“To be fair, your flat is so small that literally everything is in arms reach from your bed.”

Hermione looked at them with a raised brow. Rose was chewing on her dildo. She walked up to them and tried to take it away, but her daughter protested. “What now?”

“She will get tired eventually.”

Her face has taken on an interesting shade of red. “God, we’re terrible parents.”

It was as if Rose knew that she wasn’t supposed to play with the purple dildo, of course, she was extra eager and seemed to have endless energy. Lucius and Hermione had a hard time keeping their eyes open but the little one was still giggling. 

He was lying on the bed hoping that she would finally fall asleep, but every time he tried to take it away from her, she was up again. Barely able to keep his eyes open any longer, he registered Hermione from the corner of his eye.

She carefully lifted Rose up and the dildo rolled out of her hands down his side. Slowly lowering their daughter into her cradle, she sighed. Finally, she was deep asleep. Hermione lifted the dildo up with two of her fingers and carried it with an outstretched arm to the rubbish.

“You don’t think, I could ever use it again knowing that my daughter had it in her mouth.”

He swung his arms around her and pulled her to him on the bed. “You know, I could always make up for the damage, you can always play with me if you want to,” he teased.

“Mm,” Hermione purred. “I might hold you up to that.” 

Leaning forward she kissed him. “How about now?”


	6. Chapter 6

A huge owl landed in front of her window. She opened the window, but the Eagle Owl refused to enter the flat.

“Brutus,” Lucius said annoyed.

“Your owl,” Hermione said, feeding Rose.

Reluctantly, he got up and walked to the window. He removed the letter from his owl’s leg and Brutus flew off without waiting for a treat.

“What is it?” Hermione asked.

“Draco has sent an invitation for a Yule-dinner.”

“We should go.” Hermione wiped their daughter’s mouth clean.

“It is held at the Manor.”

There was a moment of silence. Neither of them knew what to say. On the one hand, she wanted to go, but on the other, it would be just too awkward.

* * *

It was Yule and so she got dressed without complaints. She couldn’t have said that spending the holidays or one dinner for that matter with Malfoys was something she desperately wanted, but Harry would have to suffer through it just as well.

Hermione had picked, her favorite dress from her closet. She didn’t were dresses very often especially not in winter, but the occasion called for it. It wasn’t the dress per se that was off-putting, but she had to squeeze herself into tights and that made getting dressed so much more work.

Lucius was tending to Rose as he watched her. She could feel his eyes linger on her legs traveling up with her net-tights. She hoped he would like it, but it also made her awfully aware of herself.

The red dress ended just below her knees. It was rather tight and made out of heavy fabric. While it highlighted her every curve, it was also too tight for her to close it by herself. She moved her hair out of the way and turned her back to Lucius hoping he would get the hint.

“I would much prefer opening the zipper then closing it.” He placed a kiss on her neck.

Her cheeks were glowing and she felt his big hand travel up her back. “Afterwards,” she whispered, taking over Rose so he could finish getting dressed as well.

He looked absolutely stunning in his dress robes, not that he ever wasn’t a beautiful wizard, but she liked how proper he looked in formal wear. Over the past months, she had mostly seen him in some state of undress, not that she minded, but this presented an interesting contrast.

Hermione took a deep breath and had a last glance at the mirror. This was just dinner with people who were technically her family, she reminded herself, nothing to worry about. But in reality, there were a million things that could go wrong. 

She wasn’t overly fond of Draco and he barely tolerated her. Draco was always having some kind of conflict with his father and then there was Narcissa. Would she even be there? For some reason, Hermione had always avoided thinking about her. 

She didn’t really want to run into Lucius’ ex, and she suspected that Narcissa wouldn’t be pleased if her ex arrived with his new witch. This was a bad idea. It wasn’t like she had any desire to go to Malfoy Manor. Maybe they could still stay at home, put Rose to bed, and enjoy the rest of the evening.

* * *

Standing in the grand entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, her hands clenched around Rose’s thighs. While the building didn’t actually terrify her, it was still rather intimidating. Hermione felt completely out of place. What was she doing here? Lucius could have gone alone and she would have read a nice book.

The clicking of her heels echoed through the marble entrance hall. Lucius seemed almost excited. He took her hand and dragged her to the big drawing room. On his way, he told her all kinds of tidbits of knowledge about the building. The first Malfoy had received the land for his success with William the Conqueror and over generations, they have expanded upon it.

He took a detour just to show her the portrait of the first Lucius Malfoy who was allegedly responsible for Elisabeth the Ist’s status as Virgin Queen. There were various pieces of art scattered throughout the Manor and she could spot very little practical items.

Hermione held Rose closer against her chest. It irritated her that he was so at home there. She thought he had gotten used to her tiny flat, but apparently it couldn’t compete with his ancestral home.

“My study,” he said proudly opening the door.

With small steps, she entered the dark room. Not only was his study bigger than her entire flat, but it also looked very him. The walls were completely covered with wood paneling. There was a black leather couch leaning against the wall and his wooden desk stood at the end of the room. 

He only needed to tilt his office chair to a great few over the gardens. It was so easy for Hermione to picture him sitting on his chair, surrounded by tons of paperwork, and from the window behind him, he could send out his owls.

He took Rose out of her arms and sat down on his chair. Her little hands reached out for the desk.

“This is the room where I received you.” Lucius placed a kiss on her head. He handed Rose a quill to play with. Looking around he checked if everything was still in place or if there was something that he needed to attend to.

“It is Yule,” Hermione said sternly. She watched him closely.

“I think we can go now.”

* * *

Hermione stopped in front of the drawing room, she didn’t know what she had expected, but this was just too much. The entire room was covered with silver glitter dust. There was a huge tree in the middle of the room. It was hung with silver and crystal ornaments. Stars were hovering under the ceiling and countless silver garlands reflected the light.

“Draco decorated the room.” Harry gave her an apologetic smile.

Stepping into the room, she moved very slowly to not slide on the glitter dust. She was relieved when she finally reached the couch and was able to sit down. Harry and Draco were sitting opposite of them. Draco was almost sitting on Harry’s lap while Harry was clearly as overwhelmed as she was.

Scorpius was having fun. He was running through the room, picking up the glitter and throwing it around. They’ve watched him for quite some time but he didn’t seem to get tired of it. 

“Mother refused to organize something this year so I took care of Yule,” Draco explained, “I know how much Harry loves it.” He squeezed his head and showered Harry with kisses right in front of his father.

“Where is your mother?” Lucius asked. 

“Jamacia or something,” he shrugged.

There was an awkward silence. None of them knew what to say.

“So this is my little sister,” Draco said, “She had grown quite a bit.”

“She had definitely gotten a lot heavier,” Hermione said lowering her to the couch. Her eyes were fixed on her daughter making sure that she didn’t fall off.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Draco had wanted to do something big, but with small children, having a 12-course meal was not an option. Not that it mattered, there was very little the four of them could talk about and the fact that Rose was Draco’s little sister made the entire situation really awkward.

Scorpius was the light at the end of the tunnel. The little boy found sitting on a table with a bunch of adults who weren’t even talking very boring. He wanted to finally open his presents. And no one could deny the little cinnamon roll anything.

After having barely finished eating, they returned to the drawing room and gathered around the tree. Hermione was standing up, holding Rose in her arms scared that her little one might inhale too much of the glitter.

Scorpius couldn’t be stopped and so he started unpacking all of the gifts. At that point, the boy was far more interested in ripping wrapping paper off then in what was actually inside the gifts. So it was up to Harry who was helping his son, to deceiver which present was meant for whom.

Harry got a new racing broom from Draco. Scorpius got his own little mini version of it from his parents. Lucius got hand-knitted socks from Hermione, she loved the irony of that, and Hermione got a book from Harry and Draco. At that point, she handed, Rose over to Lucus.

Not only did she need a free hand to properly look at the book but Rose was also getting quite heavy. Scorpius meanwhile kept unpacking presents.

Draco looked confused as he opened an empty box. 

“I’m ready for a second child,” Harry said.

Hermione melted as she heard that. She might not understand what Harry saw in Draco, but they were a cute couple.

Scorpius kept unwrapping gifts. Narcissa got a necklace form Lucius, Harry got a book about great Auror stories from her and Scorpius got…

Her throat constricted as she saw the necklace. There was a huge emerald hanging from it. It wasn’t the fact that the necklace was obviously worth a fortune that bothered her, it was the fact that he actually bothered to get his wife something.

Hermione stormed out of the room. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. This hurt so much more than she had expected. It was like she was stabbed out of nowhere. And she had thought that they were happy.

From the corner of her watery eyes, she saw Lucius’ hand rose over to Harry. He ran after her but Hermione got a headstart.

“Hermione!” he called after her, but that only propelled her to move faster.

She just wanted to get away from here. Never in her life has she felt so humiliated and dumb. Of course, he didn’t want her. She was just some mudblood, to keep his bed warm while his real wife had better things to do than entertain him.

“Hermione, wait!” He grabbed her arm.

With a forceful tug, she freed herself of his grip. “Get away from me!”

“This is a misunderstanding.”

“Tell me what exactly is a misunderstanding. That you feel at home here? That you would rather raise Rose here in your nice little pureblood-wizarding bubble? You can’t tell me that you actually like muggle London?”

“This is your problem? Is it really so hard to understand that I like to live somewhere where I have enough space to stretch myself? Where I can walk upright without bumping my head? Some of us like to achieve something in life and not just hide away in some archive.”

Hermione slammed her hands against her lap. “Yeah, because only what you see valuable is actually of any value. And what do you mean by archive something? This here, Malfoy Manor is nothing but the result of your inheritance.”

“And what do you think I am working so hard for? Maybe to maintain what generations of Malfoys have built up so that my children and our daughter can grow up comfortably.”

“Maybe I don’t want all of this. Has it ever occurred to you that there are more important things than materialistic things?”

“You mean like friends? From what I can tell, you have just as few friendships as I have.”

Hermione walked up to him and slapped him with all her might. “Ron is dead!”

“So is Severus, but unlike you, I do not hide in muggle London and wither away.”

“No, you run like a fool after some woman who has never loved you and never will just for appearance’s sake.”

“You know nothing about my marriage and about what Narcissa and I have been through!”

“And I don’t want to. Be happy with her.!” Hermione disapparated with a loud crack.


	7. Chapter 7

He was like petrified as he watched her disappear in front of his eyes. His hand touched his burning cheek. That chit of a girl had the impertinence to slap him. Lucky for her she was out of his reach because he didn’t know what he would do if he got her into his hands.

Turning around he found Draco and Harry standing behind him. Little Scorpius was hiding behind his fathers. 

“I have told you a million times that muggle-raised students do not belong in our community they cause nothing but trouble.” 

He ignored Harry and went to the library. He accioed a drink and set down on the big leather couch. He emptied his glass in one gulp and slapped it on the desk in front of him.

Sitting in front of the fireplace his anger slowly subsided. Taking in his surroundings, he realized how much Hermione would like the library. It smelt lovely, of old books and wood. His family had spent centuries collecting those books. He had wanted to show it to her, to see her eyes beaming with joy.

He took a deep breath. He had wanted to take her to Paris for an extended weekend. The joke was on him, he had always known that she would be trouble, it wasn’t like he had wanted anything to do with her, it was an accident. He had only wanted to sign the receipt of the very necklace, Hermione had overreacted over. He was going to bring it to Gringott’s, this necklace was clearly cursed.

* * *

Hermione had broken down crying. She had always known that letting him into her life was a mistake. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. Hermione knew she should stand up and pick her daughter up but she was so down. 

She couldn’t deal with the world right now. She wasn’t a chore, she was a great witch, she was an excellent witch who had contributed greatly to society and there was nothing that was going to stop her.

She found glitter in her hair for weeks. Not wanting to deal with anybody, even taking care of Rose felt like a chore. She loved her daughter, she really did, but she just wasn’t in the right mind to deal with it.

She looked at her daughter, as she tried to focus. She just couldn’t keep in mind where she wanted to put those damn books. It wasn’t a difficult task, a witch of her intelligence should do it with ease yet, she was struggling.

Exhausted, she sat down at the desk. She placed the books next to her and let her head fall onto the table. Rose was looking at her with her big blue eyes, her father’s eyes. She looked around. There was not a soul to be seen.

When was the last time she had met up with Harry? True they were both busy with their jobs and family, but maybe this just wasn’t working.

When she was younger, she had wanted to create a better world, but all she had done the last years was put books into shelves and retrieve books from shelves. She really was wasted here. It wasn’t like she had to work at the archive to have access to the books. She could simply drop by and bother the new archivist to collect whatever she wanted.

Enough was enough. Hermione was a Gryffindor, she won’t back down because something was new and scary, she would rise to the challenge.

Looking through the Prophet, she couldn’t find any jobs that would interest her. But as she started thinking about it, she remembered something she had read at Potions. Wasn’t there a position as a head researcher open somewhere?

No more excuses, she told herself. She handed in her letter of notice and went looking for the magazine. As it took her longer and longer to locate the right one doubts crept up her mind.

Was she doing a huge mistake? Hermione had a bit of money saved up, but without a job, she would burn through it quickly. And then there was the fact that she didn’t know how easily, it would be to find a job that would allow her to bring Rose.

Maybe she should stay at the archive, it had given her a safe place for so long. And it wasn’t horrible, in fact, she enjoyed her work a lot. But then she thought about all the other things she could do with her life. As a head researcher, she might come up with a cure for a unique curse or improve the medicine that was already around.

And even if she didn’t get the job, she could still apply to the Department of Creature regulation. There she could fight for better rights and protections for creatures and House Elves.

Eventually, Hermione found what she had been looking for. But the article was written 5 months ago already. Her heart sank. Had she just risked her entire life for a childish dream? But she read through the article once again. 

She took a deep breath and started writing her letter of application. It might have been too late already, but she couldn’t know for sure until she tried. She was sitting on it for the entire day. Nothing sounded quite right, and she didn’t want to sound like an idiot. Eventually, Hermione realized that it wasn’t getting any better no matter how often she rewrote the same lines.

Her hands were shaking. Hermione hadn’t realized that this stressed her out that much, she had only sent out a letter. Well, a letter that could change her life potentially. She was lying on her bed next to Rose waiting until she calmed down.

Suddendly, there was tapping against her window. Looking up, she saw an unfamiliar owl sitting in front of her window. She let the owl in and fed it treats. Reading over the letter she couldn’t believe it. She read over it again and again.

Andrea Miller had offered her an interview. That was it, she had actually a chance of getting this job. She lifted Rose and showered her baby with kisses, she was getting her life in order. Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

After she had dropped Rose off. She flood to Diagon Alley. After she retrieved a couple of galleons from her vault she went to Madam Milkins. She wasn’t a child anymore and it was time for her to acquire a proper set of dress robes and a hat. She took her time choosing her robes and hat carefully.

The hat looked a lot like the one Professor McGonagall was wearing only in black and she got quilted robes in black and purple. They complimented her nicely and made her look like a real witch.

She shouldn’t have put so much emphasis on her outfit, but she had a job interview and wanted to be respected as a carrier-witch in the field. While the high price tag made her feel really uneasy, she would be more than capable of making up for her investment if she got the job. She almost sounded like Lucius, she had definitely spend too much time with him.

* * *

He was sitting in his office in his Manor with Rose on his lap. While he liked juggling the numbers, he not always like dealing with his business partners. A lot of them were high maintenance and he was done with it. He had a little daughter who needed his constant attention, he couldn’t attend pointless cocktail parties just to have been there.

There was a knock on the door.

He looked up. “Andrea, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?”

“I have had a job interview today, I don’t know if you’ve already heard about it or if it was your idea, but I would want to hire Miss Granger, with your blessing, of course,”

His hand clenched around the table. The nerve of that girl.

“Her grades have always been exceptional, she has a wast knowledge about various topics, and she also has a lot of knowledge out the muggle version of Alchemy,” Andrea explained. “Also, I wouldn’t mind watching over Rose if the two of you are busy. Your daughter is such a delight.”

He took a deep breath. “Fine, hire her.”

Lucius waited until Andrea had left his office. He slammed his hand onto the table. One of those days he was going to hex her into oblivion. Why was she always making his life so complicated? 

Letting his head fall back, he took a deep breath. At least, Rose was growing up in his company. And with the money, Hermione might finally get a bigger place so that she got her own room and had space to play.

* * *

Grabbing his wand he apparated right to her. Of course, she had keyed him out of her wards again. Why would she make anything easy for him? He hammered with his fist against her door.

“What do you want here?” 

“You have applied to my company without telling me!”

“It doesn’t matter, we have Rose and there frore have to interact regularly anyway. I’m sure that my working at your company is the least of your problems,” Hermione argued.

* * *

He had rarely visited Draco and his son-in-law. Harry had spent the evening in the kitchen cooking them a fine meal. It didn’t exactly live up to his House Elves’ standard but it was much better than a BigMac and he could eat it with cutlery.

There was very little they could talk about. It was awkward. Only Scorpius seemed genuinely happy to see him and that he was here. But that might have something to do with the toys he brought him.

“I have filled the position of the head researcher,” Lucius said.

“What really?” Draco was excited. “So you’ll finally leave me alone with this and I can be a stay-at-home-father just like I always wanted?”

He nodded. It still hurt that his son had no interest in taking on more responsibilities. This was the company that secured his family’s high standard of living and he wanted to see it continued.

“Harry and I, we’ve ordered a baby,” Draco announced proudly. 

“We have sent a letter or two, maybe three, but not hundreds of them like Hermione did,” Harry said.

Lucius took a fork full of shepherd’s pie. “I am happy for you.”

The two of them looked so sickenly in love. How was that even possible? They’ve been married for some time now and were still doing well. Although Lucius suspected that they were fighting a lot, after all, they had a very different upbringing and that could make things very difficult.

Draco disappeared to tuck Scorpius in which left Lucius sitting on the table with his son-in-law. The two of them had no relationship and he couldn’t say that this was something that bothered him. The boy was his son’s age what could he possibly talk with him.

Hermione was the same age, a voice in his head reminded him. But that was different, she was intelligent and they were on the same level. That didn’t make her any less difficult though.

“We need to celebrate.” Draco opened a bottle of wine, returning to the table, “So who did you hire? I mean, you’ve been keeping the position vacant for years.”

“I thought that Herm-, Miss Granger would fill the position nicely.”

The two of them looked at him. “Are you sure about this?”

“Of course.”

“You didn’t separate on the best of terms and you have a baby together…” Harry said.

“Well, we would have to work together for Rose’s sake anyway, what difference would it make where she worked.”

Harry and Draco didn’t look convinced but neither of them said anything. 

* * *

Reading over the new reports from his research department was the highlight of his day. Hermione had taken the research into a new direction which made the reports fascinating. He could barely lay them down.

Realistically, he knew that in a couple of months, he would be bothering her. As the head of the company, it fell upon him to turn whatever the research team has covered up into a sellable product.

Without knocking someone entered his office. Looking up he found Narcissa standing right in front of him. She was barely tanned despite having spent the last couple of months in the Caribbean.

“I have been thinking,” she started, “I know that you didn’t what this half-breed and that this situation is hard on you as well… I want to give you another chance, we’ve been good together for decades and it would be a shame to give up on this.”

This was what he had wanted for so many years, and now Narcissa was finally willing to give him a chance. They had been a great couple, the top of pureblood society, nothing seemed impossible and there had always been a way to wriggle himself out of difficult situations. They were well matched. While Lucius took care of the business part, he could always count on her to take care of the social aspect. 

“Things have changed, Narcissa,” Lucius looked at her, “My first priority is to my children and that includes Rose. This could never work.”

“You let me come here, buy me expensive jewelry, just to humiliate me? For what? That girl hates you, she doesn’t want you in your life, and you don’t want her in your life!”

It hurt him more than he cared to admit. She was right, Hermione didn’t want him in his life and he could never get fully rid of her because of Rose, but that didn’t change anything.

“I will not give up on my daughter just because the relationship I have with her mother is very difficult.”


	8. Chapter 8

It was the middle of the night when Harry appeared right in her bed. 

“‘Mione! ‘Mione!” He was shaking her body and took her blanket away from her.

She let out a grunt slowly opening his eyes.

“It happened!”

Still tired, she reached for her wand and cast Lumos. “Harry, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“We’ve got a little daughter,” he announced proudly, “We’re going to name her Lily after my mother.”

She blinked a couple of times and wiped her hands over her eyes. Did he just say what she thought he had? “Ah, Harry that’s amazing. Congratulations!” She swung her arms around him and hugged her best friend with all her strength.

“Yeah, I still can’t believe it. Pinch me. Ouch!”

She giggled.

“I should go back.” 

Hermione nodded and he disapparated right in front of her.

* * *

Working with child was much harder than she thought it would be. She had to have a million things in her mind at any moment and while her colleagues were rather efficient workers and didn’t need a lot of orders and supervising that was part of the problem.

Because her team worked so efficiently, she had a lot of reports to read through and she couldn’t skip them because the results affected where she would take the research next. The break was the only time where she could take a deep breath.

Her colleagues gathered on the table around her. Even at lunch, the discussions circled around work. Ever since she had started working here, she had taken things in a new direction, but that also meant that they had to start at near zero.

With Rose in her arm, they discussed whether to add the Bubotuber pus needed to be added before or after stirring clockwise. The results they have gotten were inconclusive which meant that either someone has made a mistake or there were factors at play that none of them had considered yet.

Rose kept making noises, but they were ununderstandable. She got angry because they didn’t include her in the conversation. It wasn’t like a baby could contribute a lot to the research. 

Not wanting to risk that Rose got so upset that she started crying loudly, Hermione was forced to ask her little baby about her opinion the same way she asked her colleagues. She felt very weird, but technically she was the boss and that meant no one wanted to complain.

On the flip side, Rose conquered the hearts of her team immediately. She was generally such a nice girl, or at least as long as she was kept busy and didn’t feel excluded. Since a large junk of her workday consisted of reading reports, her daughter wasn’t in the way and for the times she was conducting an experiment, Andrea was more than willing to babysit.

* * *

“He’s driving me insane!”

Harry and Draco exchanged a glance.

“What?”

“What did Father do this time?” Draco asked pouring a shot of Firewhiskey.

Harry glared at his husband. “The one time Hermione visits us and you really want to talk about your father?”

“Ow, you don’t know my father,” Harry looked like he wanted to protest, but Draco didn’t let him. “No, you don’t. Take the girls and I’ll talk with Granger about my father.”

Harry looked at them. Reluctantly he stood up with Rose and Lily in his arms and went to the children’s bedroom. He shot them a last glance before leaving.

“So, tell me everything about my father, give me the juicy details.”

Hermione drowned her glass in one gulp and smashed it back onto the table. “Are you sure that you want to know about the juicy details?”

“Urgh. What?” Draco emptied his shot and looked at her. “There are no juicy details, are they?”

Hermione raised a brow daringly but Draco didn’t rise to the challenge.

“I have taken this job as a head researcher, and I’ve stumbled upon a few interesting things, but your father won’t let me take the research in this direction because he hadn’t figured out how he’s going to turn it into a sellable product. This is his job and not mine, I’m only the researcher and we’re at a point where we hand Rose over at the company because this is all we’re going to fight about anyway.”

Draco took another shot. “This is exactly why this was always the very last job I would have taken. Seriously, our relationship has never been the best, but how am I supposed to ever live my own life if he overrules my every decision?”

“Exactly. He’s such a difficult person. Lucius has a talent for driving me insane. Can’t he just let me do my work in peace?”

Draco and Hermione hooked their arms into each other and drank their shot. 

Harry was standing in the door and cleared his throat. “The children are all sleeping. What is going on here?”

“I have a difficult father,” Draco explained and Hermione nodded.

“I’ve been trying to get the two of you to spend more time together for years and now… I won’t ask.”

Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance and continued discussing Lucius. The list was very long and so it was no surprise when it was up to Harry to tuck them in early in the morning.

* * *

“We’re celebrating Lily’s delivery,” Harry said. “You have to come.” 

“Sure, I’ll be at your place early,” Hermione said, looking up from her research reports. She hadn’t managed to read through them all, Rose had been unusually whiney and demanded her attention.

“Em.” Harry looked at the floor. “We’re not celebrating at our place, we’re at the Manor.”

“I won’t go there!”

“‘Mione! Don’t be silly. This is my daughter and she deserves to be properly welcomed to the family and you have to come.”

“No, I don’t, I still have a lot of work to do,” she said stubbornly.

“You can’t avoid Mr. Malfoy forever, he’s family.”

“I don’t avoid him, I see him every day.”

Harry stroked through his messy black hair. “At Malfoy Medical where you fight about work. You can at least try to be civil with him for one evening. Don’t cut everyone out, you need to see people from time to time.”

“I see people all the time,” Hermione argued, “I see my team at work and I’ve dropped by you a couple of times this month alone. I’m just very busy with work and Rose.”

“And I’m happy for you, I really am. You’re doing so much better, but just because you’ve seen more people than in the last years doesn’t mean you’re participating in society in an appropriate way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her hair was standing up in all directions.

“That I want to celebrate to welcome Lily into the family.”

“I won’t come to Malfoy Manor to see Lucius and his wife do whatever looks good to other purebloods!” She turned away from Harry.

“Hermione? Are ok? Are you crying?”

“No” She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned back to Harry. “I won’t go to Malfoy Manor.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

“No, we’re fighting the entire time, I only deal with him because of work and Rose. He always disagrees with me and his obnoxious and knows everything better.”

“And you’re into this, aren’t you? You actually like the debates and the discussions.”

Hermione bit her tongue. That wasn’t true. She had done well hiding away in the archive, not interacting with anybody. She didn’t need an arrogant pureblood, with his beautiful smile and his clever remarks to make her life difficult.

Just because, he was well-spoken and had actually managed to contribute something useful to the conversation didn’t mean she needed him in any capacity let alone want him. And just because Rose adored him and was calmer in his proximity, that didn’t mean that the same applied to her.

She was calm enough on her own and she didn’t need someone to share her bed. She could always buy a new dildo and take care of her own needs all by herself. Who needed a and attractive wizard who knew exactly how to touch her if she had a right hand. 

No, she didn’t miss him, she had never needed someone in her life and a Malfoy wouldn’t change that.

“If it helps you. We did invite Narcissa, but I don’t think she’ll come so shortly after the divorce,” Harry said.

“Divorce?”

“You didn’t know that?”

Hermione shook her head. It’s not like she wanted to know about Lucius’ private life. She didn’t care.

“You should talk to him,” Harry urged her.

“Why?”

“I think he likes you too, he spends a lot of time at our place and I highly doubt that it’s me who he is interested in.”

“He’s just happy that Draco isn’t upset with him anymore.”


	9. Chapter 9

She was still busy at work when he picked Rose up. He was standing so close she could feel his heat radiated through her body. His hands brushed over hers as he picked up Rose from her arms and tingles went through her entire body.

Hermione swallowed hard. No, he wasn’t affecting her, she might just have a cold or something. Her cheeks were glowing as their eyes met. She hadn’t really looked at him not since they'd broken up. Had they been together in the first place?

“Am going to see you at the Manor?” His voice was more gentle than she was used to.

“Huh?” She hadn’t expected him to attempt small talk. 

They worked together and had a daughter, it almost seemed like a waste of time. They could be debating research or marketing strategies, the schedule for their daughter’s homeschooling, or if it was too early to save up for her school supplies. With her current costs and income, it would take her at least 4 months to get the money together to send her daughter properly to Hogwarts, she should better get started.

“I’m not coming, I’ve got work to do,” she said stubbornly.

“I am certain that work can wait for a couple of days.”

She glared at him and Lucius was wise enough to shut up. He lowered his head and walked away.

* * *

Their interactions were even more brief than usual. For some reason, he didn’t even fight with her but let her simply do whatever she wanted. And Hermione was oddly disappointed by that. She started proposing ridiculous experiments just so he would argue with her but he didn’t.

By now her new job wasn’t quite as new and challenging as it used to be anymore and she started to feel as if there was something missing. Even with Rose in her arm, she felt oddly lonely. The baby still wasn’t speaking properly and she longed to have an interesting conversation.

To celebrate the delivery of his granddaughter, Lucius has given everyone off for the afternoon so that everyone had enough time to relax and get dressed for the festivities. Hermione was the last one still at work. Rose was with her father and she couldn’t find a reason to go home. There was nothing there for her.

She went through her numbers but for some reason, she had a hard time concentrating on anything. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t hide in the potions lab and work overtime when her best friend was celebrating the delivery of his daughter.

She placed her quill on the table. This wasn’t working. She grabbed her wand and disapparated. 

Standing in the entrance hall, she looked around. Round tables were covered with a black cloth and glass vases with orange lilies decorated the entrance hall. Looking around, she wondered if it was too late for her to run away, but Harry approached her.

“You’ve come.” Smiling broadly, he hugged her tightly.

“I was only dropping by for a moment, I can’t stay long,” she argued. “How many people are you expecting?” She watched House Elves build up a huge pyramid of glasses.”

Harry looked at her as worried as she did. “You know Draco, everything he does is a little over the top.”

He led her through the Manor. Draco was very busy preparing the location for the evening.

“Since Narcissa left and you’ve taken the position his father always wanted him to take, he’s been thinking about moving back into the Manor,” Harry explained, “I think I’m on board with him on that.”

“You’re not seriously considering living in that monstrosity?”

“Why not? We need more space now that we have Lily anyway and as Scorpius is getting older and soon flying his broom inside and only at Diagon Alley won’t be enough anymore. I know what it’s like to grow up in a muggle area where you always have to hide a part of yourself and my children shouldn’t have to go through the same thing.” Harry pointed at Draco who was busy with placing the decorations. “And he is happy if he wants to take over his mother’s role as lady of the Manor who am I to stop him.”

Hermione followed Harry through the Manor, he went to the children’s rooms to check if they were actually sleeping.

“Are you going to move in as well? We could be a proper family and I’ll cook breakfast on Sundays so that the elves could have a day off?”

“Why would I want to do that?” Hermione asked.

“I don’t know, maybe because you miss your Malfoy.”

“I don’t miss him, and even if that doesn’t mean that he wants me, he told me very clearly that I’m too difficult.”

Harry sighed. “‘Mione, you are difficult, but that doesn’t mean that you’re too difficult for him- Don’t make life difficult for yourself. And he does ask about you- The least you can do is talk to him.”

* * *

Not wanting to listen to Harry’s preaching any longer she wandered off. If she got lost in the Manor then maybe she wouldn’t have to see anyone and could skip the party. All she could think about was whether he was really asking about her or not. It didn’t matter they had lived together and it didn’t work out.

Harry might find it fun to live in an old wizarding house, but Hermione was sensible enough that there were strings attached to a lifestyle like that. She wasn’t going to host an event like that, she had better things to do with her life then matching buttercream to flowers and arranging seating plans.

She wanted to do good for the world and be productive. She wanted to spend her time with her daughter and not with high-society gossiping about other witches’ robes. 

Passing Lucius’ study she stopped. Was he still inside and working? She could picture him so well with Rose on his lap going through his numbers. Their daughter would expect him to explain everything to her even though she couldn’t understand it, but Rose was very stubborn, like her parents.

Her hand touched the thick wood of the door. All she had to do was enter. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the door. Did he really miss her? With her hand, she touched her lips. A single tear ran down her cheek.

Gasping for air she sank down sobbing, she was such a mess. Big tears formed in her eyes. She wanted him to take her in his strong arms, to kiss all her worries away. Hermione felt so alone in her bed without him by her side. He might be an arrogant pureblood, but he was her arrogant pureblood.

Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. This was it. She was done feeling sorry for herself. It was time for her to get him back. They had so many great times together, they had been happy. She wanted him back. And they could argue about the rest later.

Jumping up, she ran towards the entrance hall as fast as she could. She was a Gryffindor she should face her challenges and not bow down out of fear. He might reject her, but if she never tried she would never know.

“Hermione!” Harry was bocking the way. “Tell me, you’re not fleeing!”

“I’m not,” she breathed. She stabled herself, leaning against the wall. Hermione bit her lip, still panting for air. “I want him back.”

“I’ll help you,” Harry said. He grabbed his coat and they apparated to her flat.

“What is your plan?” he asked her.

“My living situation was a constant source of conflict and he’s quite attached to his ancestral home.” Hermione started packing her books into her pearled handbag.

“You actually consider moving into the Manor?”

“I’m so going to regret this,” Hermione said, not stopping to gather her belongings. 

“No, I think this is an excellent idea. You’ve been living on your own for too long. You need to surround yourself with family and we’re going to share our meals and we’re going to be a proper family.”

“I’m not going to end the contract for my flat until we’ve figured this out.”

Harry hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad to have the old Hermione back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“My life hasn’t been complete without your criticism.”

“Now are you going to help me or just stand there and watch?”

Harry grinned and grabbed a few of her books. It took the two of them longer than expected to clean the tiny flat out. Hermione was shocked that she had managed to fit so many books inside and the idea that she would have to find a new place for each of them scared her a little.

* * *

“This is Narcissa’s wing, which we’re going to take over,” Harry said, pointing at the lady’s wing, “And here is Mr. Malfoy’s wing, it’s also was the grand library is located.”

“Uh, the library.” Hermione rubbed her hands.

“I think Mr. Malfoy wants to show you that space himself.” Harry paused for a moment.“What have you planned?”

“I was going to put Rose’s stuff into her room and maybe unpack a few of my books to show him that I’m serious and willing to compromise.”

“I’ll show you around.”

“Shouldn’t you help Draco with the last preparations?”

“I’m not insane enough to go between my husband and his party.”

* * *

Hermione let her gaze wander over the room. Rose had plenty of space and he had put a lot of thought into it. Her toys and clothes were stored away on the shelves near the wall. The space on the carpet was free and Hermione could picture their daughter crawling over the floor all too easily. 

She placed the other half of her clothes in the drawer next to them without ruining his system. The books she was reading to her found a place on the small table next to the crib and the wooden toys found their place on the shelves.

It took her some time to get everything sorted, and she was quite tired by the time she was done. It had gotten late and Hermione needed to dress up for the party.

She didn’t really know what to wear. It wasn’t like she frequented events like that. Looking for her clothes in her bag, she stumbled upon the red dress she had worn on Yule.

She paused for a moment but eventually pulled it out. Lucius had said that he liked how she had looked in it and Hermione wanted nothing more than to continue where they had left.

It took her longer then she had anticipated to squeeze herself into and without somebody to help her close the zipper she ended up jumping up and down and using her magic inappropriately just to be properly dressed.

She took a deep breath and went straight to the ballroom skipping the sparkling wine in the entrance hall. But as she stepped into the crowded ballroom, Hermione realized that she could have used all the alcohol she could get. She sat down at the table next to Harry. 

Lucius was sitting next to Draco with Rose on his lap, they looked truly adorable together. Draco couldn’t remain sitting still for long. With Lily in his arm, he went on to mingle, showing off his daughter proudly.

They had barely made it through the second course when Scorpius started feeling bored. The boy was pulling threads out of the orange table cloth, so Harry took him outside for a bit, leaving Hermione and Lucius alone at the table. 

No, it wasn’t awkward at all, and no, Hermione wasn’t pulling on the thread where Scorpius had left. She just didn’t know what to say. Lucius cleared his throat and she looked up, she wanted to say something but then Draco rejoined them.

It got quickly late, at least for Rose. She was tired and there were so many people around. The little one got more and more whiney.

Standing up, Hermione walked around the table and lifted her out of Lucius’ arm. “I’ll bring her to bed.”

She let her hand run over his back, before stepping away from him. She walked slowly to the winged doors swaying her hips. She wondered if he got the hint. Hermione bit her lip. She should have been more clear, but she didn’t know what to say.

There were footsteps behind her and she felt a hand on her waist. Looking up she found Lucius walking next to her.

Her cheeks were glowing and all she could focus on was the hand on her waist. Her legs felt shaky and her arm clenched around her daughter to not drop her. Her heart was racing. What if he didn’t want her anymore? What if he realized that she was too difficult after all?

It took forever until they finally reached Rose’s room. She carefully lowered her to the crib. Lucius was standing nearby the entire time as she read her a goodnight story.

* * *

His eyes were fixed on her. She looked ravishing in the red dress and he got a good view of her backside as she lowered their daughter into the crib. It was the same dress, she had worn on Yule and he couldn’t help but wonder if she wanted to tell him something.

He could see that something was different, but in the dim light, it took him a while to figure out what. Taking a small step back from his witch, he noticed that there were more toys in the room and he recognized a few of them from her tiny flat in muggle London.

His heart jumped. Was she going to abandon him and Rose? He didn’t want her to go. He enjoyed her presence even if all they were doing was fighting. He wanted her in his life, Hermione was a very special witch.

She was reading to Rose with her soft voice. He set down on a chair next to the cradle, placing his head on the wooding railing. He felt so much more at ease. Lucius was sure that he could listen to her voice for hours and his eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds.

Hermione reached out to him and let her fingers run through his long platinum blond hair. He gently smiled at her nothing else mattered at that moment. He watched her, scared that she would snap out of it at every moment and leave him again.

  
  


She chewed on her lower lip. “I’ve been thinking…”

His throat constricted. Lucius was on high alert. He stood up and approached her half-expecting that she would take a few steps back to evade him. 

Instead, she remained standing on the same spot. She looked at him with her big brown eyes, fidgeting with her fingers. 

“I thought I could move in with you,” she blurted out.

He stared at her for a moment processing her words. Had he heard her correctly? Lucius cupped her cheeks and kissed her with all he got. She shuddered in his arm leaning into him. Hermione moaned against his lips. Lucius didn’t know what he had expected but he was somewhat taken by surprise that she was kissing him back.

She was breathing through her mouth, her lips kiss swollen. She was the most delicious thing he had ever seen.

He took her hand and dragged her out of the room, down the corridor, and through the winged doors at the end. Taking a step back he watched her look at the library with awe. He had always been proud of his family collection and had added to it over the year, but seeing her impressed made his chest swell with pride.

“This is amazing!” She was quickly going through the rows. “I love it. I can’t wait to sort all of my books into it.”

Lucius chuckled. “Tomorrow.”

He captured her and let his hands run down her sides, trailing kisses down her neck. “There is one more room I need to show you.”

She swallowed hard and he took her hand, guiding her to his bedroom. She looked a little lost standing in the big room, his eyes fixed on him.

Leaning forward he took his time kissing her. Reaching around her neck, he found the zipper of her dress. Smirking he opened it and watched it slide off her body. He took a second to appreciate her body before he pushed her on the bed.

“You’re the only witch who’s allowed to sleep here, but I might make an exception for Rose.”

She smiled at him and with her hands grabbed onto his long hair she pulled him closer.

“Do I have to tie you to the bed or will you still be here tomorrow?”

Blushing she bit her lip. “I don’t think you have to...”


	10. Epilogue

Coming home from work she sat down on the terrace next to Harry. The children were running around playing on the soft grass. 

“How bad is it?” Hermione asked, looking at Draco.

“It’s worse than when we got married,” Harry said, “I think it was a huge mistake to let him plan you’re wedding.”

Hermione opened her arms and lifted Rose into her lap. The girl started babbling, tugging on her mother’s bushy hair.

“I don’t know how he managed to talk me into all of this.” She pointed at the huge pavilion that was built in the middle of the lush grass.

A black carped was leading up to it and chairs covered with matching cloth were placed into neat rows. Dark red roses were the flowers her soon to be son in law had picked. Some of them were growing up the sides of the pavilion and cut roses were arranged in glass vases.

Lucius returned from a meeting shortly after her. Looking at his son he took a deep breath. “He got that from his mother.”

“I’m nervous,” Hermione said.

“This is nothing but a formality,” Lucius said.

“Yeah, but the entire wizarding world is watching. What if I make a fool out of myself or something? There are a million things that could go wrong. We should have just celebrated with the family.”

Lucius chuckled. 

A huge bird circled their heads and placed a basket on the table. Harry stood up and rushed to it.

“Is it the candles I’ve ordered?” Draco asked.

“It’s not for us,” Harry said.

Lucius and Hermione exchanged a glance. She jumped up and rushed to the basket. Rose stumbled after her. Her heart was racing, she hadn’t ordered anything.

With a shaking hand, she pulled the blanket off the basket. A pair of big blue eyes were staring at her. Hermione swallowed hard. She slowly reached into the basket not quite daring to touch the little baby. Not too long ago Rose had been just as little.

With pleading eyes she looked at her fiance. Lucius was standing next to her. His big hand rested on her hip and she leaned into his strong frame. No word was spoken, he just nodded.

Hermione grabbed the nearest quill and tore it out of Draco’s hand. She signed the receipt as quickly as she could. Nothing could hold her back anymore as she reached into the basket and lifted the little baby out of it. 

Big tears were falling from her eyes and she pressed the little one against her chest. 

Lucius stroked over the oversized head. Leaning forward he kissed both Hermione and the little baby in her arms.

Scorpius was pulling out grass and Rose was tugging on her robes and Lily was whining.

Lucius lifted her up. “My little daughter a big sister.”

“You can’t do this to me, tomorrow is the wedding,” Draco complained. “I have everything planned out, I can’t use a baby right now send her back.”

“Draco!” Harry kicked his husband’s leg.

“I’ve spent months planning this wedding, this is the event of the year. And you’ve ruined the entire plan.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s just a baby.”

“And what are we going to do with it during the vows?”

“I can hold it,” Harry argued.

“Her,” Hermione said, looking at her newborn.

“I have another daughter,” Lucius said, smiling proudly. “We should name her after a flower.”

“Definitely,” Hermione agreed with him. “Dahlia.”

“Dahlia it is.”

“You can’t hold her, someone had to hold Lily,” Draco argued.

“Then you’ll hold her.”

Draco pouted. “I hate those storks, they’ve delivered her too early. Couldn’t they’ve waited until after the wedding?”

Harry took Lily and dragged Draco away from them. Scorpius followed them.

“May I?”

Hermione handed him their newest daughter. Sitting down Rose clamped to her mother not sure how she was supposed to feel about this.

She stroked over her older daughter’s back, kissing her head while she watched Lucius. He was already madly in love with their newest addition to the family.

* * *

Hermione woke up alone in her bed. She couldn’t say that she was surprised. Before bothering to get dressed in the monstrosity of a wedding gown she had picked with Draco’s help, she went to the nursery. Hermione knew that he hadn’t stayed out of their bed for tradition’s sake.

Lucius was sleeping half-handing over the crib. Smiling, she approached them. Petting her head, she watched Dahlia sleep. Tears fell from her eyes.

“I’m so happy,” she said.

“About our wedding or Dahlia?” Lucius stretched himself. “My back hurts.”

Hermione giggled. “Both,” she said, placing a kiss on his cheek.

* * *

She needn’t have worried. Hermione neither forgot her vows nor did she stumble over her own feet. Rose however did fall. The rings got loose from the cushion and Scorpius ran up to her to help look for them. Biting her lips she had managed not to start laughing. They exchanged a kiss and family photos were taken from the Prophet. 


End file.
